Oshmyany

In 1340 the small town Oshmyany turned from a settlement in the Vilno Principality to a fortress of the Great Dukes of Lithuania. The residency first belonged to Gedimin, and in time passed on as inheritance to his sons Yavnut and then Olgerd. From 1382 Oshmyany became the personal domain of Duke Yagailo. The town weathered two offences from the Crusaders, in 1384 – 1385 and in 1402. Oshmyany remained as one of the residencies of the Great Dukes of Lithuania until the middle of the 15^th century. On the night of September 1 1432 Duke Zhigimont Keistutovich organized in Oshmyany a successful coup d’etat. Around 10,000 people died in the fighting surrounding it.

At the beginning of the 16^th century the town was granted the priviledge of self-government according to the Statute of Magdeburg. During the uprising of 1794 an insurgent army headed by Y. Yasinsky housed its headquarters in Oshmyany. The well known belarussian painter Y.Korchevsky (1806-1833) was born in the town, in a lawyer’s family. He graduated from the philosophy department of Vilno University and then continued his studies at St.Petersburg University majoring in law but at the same time studying painting. Korchevsky’s speciality was thematic and historical painting. From 1829 on he went to live and work in Italy.

The brick Church of the Resurrection was built in 1875. Together with a Catholic church it forms a silhouette of the historical square. St.Mikhail Archangel Catholic church was built with the donation from King Vladislav Yagailo at the beginning of the 15^th century. It was rebuild in 1900 – 1906 following the project of architect Vaclav Mikhnevich, in a Vilno Baroque style.

Krevo Castle

The castle was built in the 14^th century as a residence of the Duke and as a fortress. It was a part of chain fortresses that formed the defensive line against the Crusaders. In Lida, Grodno, Novogrudok, Krevo, Medniki, Vilno and Troki new types of structures were being built. They were small stone castles: one or two towers built on dam in marsh areas. Krevo castle takes the shape of an irregular quadrangle. The length of its sides varies from 71 meters to 108 meters. The thikness of walls is 2.5-3 meters, height: 13 meters. The main building material used was boulders. Two towers, the Duke’s and the Small, are placed diagonally. Another place in Belarus where this type of castle adopted from the Crusaders is Lida.

Krevo Castle was unfortunate. At the beginning of the 15^th century it was captured several times by Crimean Tatars and Moscow troops. Despite this and because of the strategic position of the township, in 1563 Krevo was chosen as a gathering place for the Great Lithuanian Principality’s militia. After the castle’s destruction in the middle of the 17^th century there was virtually no information on the township. Only in the 18^th century did it re-emerge as a trade town.

Golshany

Golshany is the first mentioned in chronicles of the 13^th century. It is considered that the founder of the settlement and of the famous royal family of Golshanskys was the legendary Duke Golsha. For quite a long time Dukes Golshanskys held high posts in the Great Lithuanian Principality and later in the Rzecz Pospolita. Duke Algimut is the first representative of this family certifiably recorded by history. He was part of the council sent by Duke Yagailo in 1385 to ask for the hand of the Polish Queen Yadviga. Algimut’s son Ivan was the closest associate of Duke Vitovt who was married to Ivan’s sister – Ulyana Golshanskaya. Ulyana was included in the pantheon of Belarussian saints, along with the most famous female saints of the country – Euphrosinya Polotskaya and Sofia Slutskaya. Relics of the St.Ulyana are in the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra (a monastery in Kiev). Another representative of the Golshansky family, Sofia (1405 - 1461), after marrying the Polish king Yagailo in 1422 in Novogrudok, founded the royal Yagellon dynastry.

Golshany was an area where many craftsmen, merchants and military people settled. At the intersection of the main roads leading to Vilno (now Vilnius) and Krevo, Rynochnaya Square (‘Market Square’) appeared. Small kamenitsa houses, standing there still, and shops were built around the square. The square was surrounded by churches of the three main religions wide-spreaded in Belarus: a Catholic church and St.Francis monastery, a St.George Orthodox church and a synagogue. Trade stalls and inns were also situated in the locality. The town also boasted water mills and four taverns famous for their excellent and original beer. Golshany enjoyed brisk trade and many fairs were held there.

St. Yan the Baptist’s Catholic Church

The construction of this church is connected with the outstanding representative of one of the most prominent belarussian families - Pavel Sapega (1565-1635). He was a courtier of a King Stefan Batory and Sigizmund III, equerry of the Great Lithuanian Principality and starting form 1623 – the Lithuanian Vice Chancellor. At the same time from the beginning oh the 17^th century, Pavel Stefan Sapega commenced the construction work, wich turned Golshany into a flourishing medieval “Holland”. He invited minorities to settle in the region and in 1618 constructed a new Catholic church and a monastery for them. The splendid church built in an early Baroque style was a kind of beacon for travelers as it could be seen from a dozens kilometers away. The main ornamental detail of the interior is an 18^th century fresco over the altar. Another fresco of the Sapegas family coat of arms hangs over an altar on the right hand side of the church. The church also contains the ancestral burial vaults of Dukes Sapegas. His last years Pavel Stefan spent in Golshany, where he died in 1635 and was buried in the church along with his three wifes.

St.Francis’ monastery is a residential building constructed in the 17^th century and attached to the north-west side of the church. The building has two storeys and a gallery. The first floor accommodated a dining hall, the second – the dormitory cells of monks and a libray stocked with around 1000 rare theological texts.

One of the many ghost tales the town has accumulated over the years is connected to the construction of the monastery. Pavel Stefan Sapega decided to build monastery as quickly as possible. The first three walls of the monastery were put up with speed and stood unstintingly, but the forth one fell down again and again despite any amount of effort. Craftsmen decided the reason for this was the presence of evil forces. According to the old beliefs, it was necessary to make a sacrifice to disperce the spirits. Being afraid of the Duke’s anger, craftsmen decidde to immure into the “damned” wall the first woman coming by the construction site to bring dinner for her husband. The first girl happened to be the wife of a young bricklayer.

Though the construction was completed peace has never reigned in its grounds. Even nowadays inexplicable events take place nearly every night and female whispers, crying for mercy are reported to be heard. Local people believe them to come from the soul of the immured young woman and they have named the ghost “White Lady”.

For those interested, Golshany monastery is open to visitors and is now a branch of Belarus Fine Arts Museum.

Castle

Zamkovaya street leads from Rynochnaya Square to the ruins of a one time beautiful medieval castle built in 1610 by Pavel Sapega. Along the castle, flows the Karabel stream. Formerly the stream was filled deep with water as one of the castle’s fortifications. The castle was a rectangular building with a square courtyard. The castle has hexagonal corner towers and a pentagonal tower with an entrance tunnel in the middle of the north-eastern building. In front of that building stood the castle chapel. The buildings had tiled roofs, and floors were covered with ceramic tiles. There were plenty of rooms in the castle decorated with frescos and artistic designs.

The place was filled with fancifully decorated fireplaces, ceilings, window openings, stoves with glazed tiles baring the heraldic monogram. On the walls hang portraits of the Sapegas family, as well as paintings and weapons. Stained-glass windows faced the inner courtyard, stone floor tiles were kept in harmony with expensive furniture and bronze candlesticks. There was a store of secrets kept in the underground vaults of the Sapegas family. One legend tells of a love between a young girl from the Sapegas clan and a handsome but poor castle gardener. Young lovers were doomed to die in the deep dungeons of the castle as soon as the girl’s parents discovered the “criminal” love.

Every evening since – according to local people – the soul of the young Marylya Sapega, who was eventually immured together with her lover in the vaults, turns into a white bird and flies all over the castle accompanied by a black shadow of a medieval cavalier dressed in a clock and a hat.

In th 17^th century, Golshany’s castle was unique in the Great Lithuanian Principality because it was the only construction in the Holland architectural style. Unfortunately, due to wars, poor maintenance and other circumstances it did not survive. The ruins of its walls and a tower are the only reminders of the bygone greatness Golshany’s owners once enjoyed.

Gorodishche

If you are archaeology enthusiast, don’t miss out on visiting the site of Golshany’s settlement on the banks of River Karabel, 1.5 km east of the township. Stone stoves, arrow-heads, amulets, hatchets, glass, household goods and decorations were found on this location. The site dates back to the 12^th century. According to legend, it was here that Duke Golsha established the first Golshanskoe Principality and built a wooden castle. Until the 16^th century the residence of Golshanskys dukes was also situated here.

St. George’s Church

The exact date of construction of the first Orthodox Church in the old castle of the Golshanskys Dukes’ castle is unknown. The Golshanskys were patrons to local Orthodox believers and belonged to this branch of Christianity until the 15^th century. The church is first mentioned in a text in 1536 as already active. After the Brest Union of 1596 it was handed over to members of the Uniate Church. In the first half of the the 19^th century Uniate believers were exiled from Golshany and the wooden church disassembled. In 1901, tanks to the efforts of the Orthodox priest Vladimir a new Orthodox church was built in its place. Today the church houses many miracle-working icons of from the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Ivye

Pass through the main square and turn right – you will see an imposing Catholic church, one of the very few surviving here. This town was first mentioned in chronicles of the 15^th century as the residence on the Great Duke. In 1444 Ivye was given to a Novogrudok head of the local community, Petr Montigerdovich, who commenced construction of the first Catholic church here around 1495. In the second half of the 16^th century, Ivye established itself as a center for Protestantism in the Great Lithuanian Principality. Printing houses and school were founded. The rector of the school between 1585 and 1593 was a progressive thinker, educational specialist and poet, yan Namyslovsky. During the next three centuries, ownership of the town often changed hands. Among the prominent families who at one time controlled the area were the Slushkas, Glebovichs, Oginskys, Sapegas. Tyzengauzs and Zamoiskys.

Ivye construction was formed throughout its history and affected by the location – it lies at the intersection of roads leading to Minsk, Lida and Novogrudok. At the cross-road there’s the main square. In the central part of the town stand buildings from the beginning of the 19^th to the 20 th centuries, the so-called “Jewish houses”, decorated with ornamental design.

St.Peter and Paul Catholic Church and St.Bernard’s Monestry.

Around 1600 Stanislav Kishka founded in Ivye a Catholic church in the fashionable early Baroque style. In 1631, voevode (the military head) from Mstislavl, Mikolai Kishka, founded the St.Bernard’s monastery. All these buildings were burnt to the ground during th 1656 war. The church was rebuilt and sanctified in 1787.

Nowadays, the architectural ensemble consists of the St.Peter and Paul Catholic church and residential buildings (only western and part of the eastern outhouses remain). The monastery is slightly away from the street, separated by an earthen mound that in the old days was of defensive significance. In the 19^th century a chapel was attached to the north wall of the church. St.Peter and Paul Catholic Church has six 18^th century altars.

Mosque

Tatars settled in Ivye around the 16^th century, separately from the Christians, in area called Muravsgchizna. In 1884 the owner of the township, Elvira Zamoiskaya, made a donation for the building of a mosque. In 1922, emigrant Tatars donated money and a minaret was added. Local Tatars are followers of the Sunni school of Islam. The mosque has never been closed and operated even during the most difficult days of the Soviet antireligious struggle.

Grodno and the outskirts

If you wish to experience real Belarusian hospitality, if primeval nature, clear lakes and rivers, pleasant forests and picturesque landscapes attract you, if you would like to see living history on ancient city streets, near legendary castles and palace walls, if you are interested in a rich and original culture and works of master craftsmen, you are welcome to visit the Grodno Region in belarus, the place where I born.

There are 14 towns, 17 townships, and around 4,500 villages. The main towns are Grodno, Lida, Slonim, Novogrudok and Volkovysk.

Grodno oblast is situated in the north-west of Belarus, by the basin of the River Neman. The region borders with Vitebsk, Minsk and Brest oblast of Belarus as well as with Lithuania and Poland. In the center of the oblast are the Neman lowlands: a plain landscape dotted with Grodno, Volkovysk, Novogrudok, Slonim and Oshmyany hills. The highest point in the locality is Zamkovaya Hill in Novogrudok, 323 metres above sea level. Local climate is mild and humid, the average winter temperature starts -5 degree Celsius, rising to 18 degrees in the summer, however, temperature can reach as high as 30 Celsius, dropping to a massive winter low of -25 Celsius on ocassion.

Rainfall figures:530 mm to 660 mm a year.
Grodno oblast occupies a territory of 25,100 square kilometres.

Its population, as it stood on January 1, 2004, is around 1,146,000. Belarussians make up more than 62% of the region's population, with Poles being the largest minority. Other nationalities living in the Grodno oblast are Russians, Ukranians, Lithuanians, tatars, Jews and more.
The official language are Belarussian and Russian.

A LAND OF RIVERS AND LAKES

The locality is rich in lakes, small but scenic. The biggest of them are Lakes Beloye, Rubnitsya, Svir, Vishnevskoye and Svityaz. Most of them are used as water reserves and have grown famous for their clear water. Leafy groves, coniferous and mixed woods cover around one third of the area. Amazengly, parts of ancient virgin forests have survived on the territory. The biggest and most famous of these is Belovezhskaya Pushcha, listed as Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

The northern part lies inside the Grodno region. A number of biological reserves have been created especially to protect the great variety plants and trees in the forest: currently there are 1,500 types of vegetation.

TRAVELLING IN THE GRODNO REGION

The Prineman area grants a traveller a wide choice of interesting routes. For boat-enthusiasts, there is a famous Avgustovski canal. It runs inside the Grodno Oblast for 21.2 km and includes four sluices; part of the canal also passes through Poland. Once a year at the end of August, near the Dombrovka sluice, a tri-nation Culture Festival takes place. Art groups and craftsmen from Belarus, Poland and Lithuania take part in the activity.

Rout Grodno-Slonim-Zhirovichi is full of amazing discoveries. In Slonim, splendid Baroque Catholic churches, as well as M.K.Oginsky's manor and local museum, all well worth a traveller's attention. Zhirovichi is a center for pilgrimage not only for Orthodox Belarussians but also for many believers from afar. Its ocal monastery is well-known for encompassing an ensemble of ancient churches and for its miracle-working, healing icon of the Blessed Virgin. Should the traveller stray from the set path, and come upon the small village Synkovichi, he would not regret it. A church-fortress has stood there, its faceted towers pointing to the sky, for the last 500 years. Its sister fortress and church, Malomozheikovo (also known as 'Muranovka') can be seen during as you drive along the Grodno-Minsk motorway. The road passes through plenty attractive sites: ancient towns and townships of Skidel, Schuchin and Lida, the ancestral nests of gentry's families, old parks, and Catholic and Orthodox churches.

If you come to visit Grodno area, you can not bypass the capital. Thes pearl in the crown of Belarussian cities will surely charm with its cosy atmosphere of ancient narow streets and green courtyyards. Royal castles, imposing Catholic churches, a unique Kalozhskaya church, museums, the only zoo in Belarus, exhibition and concert halls, theatres - Grodno has them all. You can easly spend a couple of days here and every one of those will be packed full with discoveries and impressions.

For nature lovers the Grodno region has a store of treasures - sanatoriums, recreation areas, beaches, rivers and lakes full of fish, and forests full of berries and mushrooms.

In the nest few days I will put some imortant information about the main beautiful places in Grodno Region...